Microsoft builds a giant Windows Phone at NYC’s Herald Square

If you’re not Apple and can’t drum up huge anticipation for a new smartphone simply because it’s a new smartphone, you’ve gotta resort to more drastic measures – like building a ginormous phone in the middle of New York City’s Herald Square.

That’s what Microsoft did. Hop on a quick flight to the Big Apple, and six hours from now you could be standing underneath a six-story Windows Phone. Look up, and you’d see giant LED screens displaying the distinctive look of Microsoft’s Windows Phone software.

The Redmond-based company built the giant phone this weekend to mark the launch of new devices running the newest version of Windows Phone, Windows Phone 7.5 (also known as “Mango”). As part of the launch, the band Far East Movement played a free show today at noon New York time.

For more information on the new phones and the new features in Windows Phone 7.5, check out this other Microsoft Blog post. Here’s a video of the giant Windows Phone being built.